Friday, December 19, 2014

How's that math again?

In
1978, Michter's made a decanter to commemorate Penn State's 39
consecutive winning years. The only problem? They did the math wrong on
the 3 prototypes. It was caught before production started. Since all of
the promotional items showed the decanter displaying 38 years, the
distillery got a lot of calls and letters noting the error. According to the November 1978 "The Michter's Collector" newsletter, they decided
to raffle only one of the three. This is that one. In the February 1979 newsletter, they note that a Mrs. Florence Suchcicki of Reading was the winner.

Direct text from the Nov. 1978 newsletter:"Big companies, small companies, wise men, not so wise men. . . . everyone makes mistakes fromtime to time. And we do too. One mistake was the first samples we got of the Nittany LionDecanters. The inscription on the front of the bottle read, 'Penn State Nittany Lions NCAARecord For Most Consecutive Seasons Without a Losing Season 1939-1977 38 Straight Non.Losing Seasons.Well, think about it. 1939-1977 isn't 38 seasons, it is 39. Luckily for us, someone had called this toour attention before the final production sample was produced and the final issue piece correctlyread as 39 straight non-losing seasons. Anyway, there were three samples made reading 38seasons and one of these is going to be awarded to one of our Society members.To qualify, send us the postcard which we have enclosed in this mailing (don't forget a 10' stamp)to Post Office Box 481, Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania 17088, with your Society number printed onthe card. On the day after New Year's we will have a special drawing and one of you will be sentthis "mistake" of ours. It should be a welcome and "fun" addition to your collection. So, weexpect to see hundreds of post cards coming our way soon. Remember, January 2 is thedeadline, and the holiday mails are notorious."

Direct text from the Feb. 1979 newsletter:

"As you will remember, in the last issue of The Collector, we invited allmembers of the Michter's National Collectors' Society to send in apostcard if they were interested in becoming eligible to win one of thethree incorrect samples of the Michter's Nittany Lion Decanter. Insteadof the correct "39 straight non-losing seasons," it read "38 straight non'losing seasons." As was explained, this error was discovered before thebottle went into production, and we thought this would be a unique prizefor one of our members.Well, on Thursday, January 4,1979, Dr. Charles Hughes, a noted oralsurgeon from Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, and his lovely wife, Dorothy, bothearly members of the Michter's National Collectors' Society, were kindenough to come to the distillery and draw the lucky winner.Florence Suchcicki, Society Number 246, from Reading, PA., whose card was drawn from the more than 2,000 received, is now the proud owner ofour "mistake." Florence not only received the"odd" Nittany Lion Decanter but also a Certificateof Authenticity, complete with corporate seal,which is reprinted to the right."I did not receiver the paper with mine, so it must've been lost over the years. The whereabouts of the other two decanters is highly in doubt as well since they were not only prototypes, but also mistakes.

Good at whiskey, bad
at math- Michter's, the whiskey that warmed the Revolution!